Halo
by Shimmerbreeze
Summary: Byakuya and Rukia are sent to the World of The Living on a mission. Hollows have been frequently showing up in Karakura town, and it's up to them to find out who is behind them. But when Rukia meets Ichigo, her mission becomes the last thing on her mind.


_**~Halo~**_

**Hey guys! New story! Yay! I'm hoping this one won't flop and die like most of the others do. So this story is based off of the book "Halo" by Alexandra Adornetto. It's just been "Bleached". Haha I'm so punny ;P. Alright I'll stop the lame jokes and let you read now. Enjoy. This lovely story is dedicated to my awesome friends from Bleach RP Page on Facebook. **

**Song: Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus **

_***S***_

Chpater 1: Arrival

Our arrival went as well as planned. Maybe, what we didn't know was that we were being watched from the shadows by a teenager with glasses. Other than that one small detail, our arrival was perfectly fine. My brother and I stepped out of the Senkaimon and looked around suspiciously before heading on our way to find the small house we were staying at.

It was my first time in the World of The Living, but my nii-sama has been here before. Everything was different from the very traditional looking Seireitei. Everything in this little town, Karakura I was told, was modern and more than a few parts were new.

"You'll adjust quickly, however you will find things very different here than they are in the Soul Society," my brother's voice startled me out of my observations.

"Yes of course nii-sama," I said meekly. We hardly ever talked, and when we did it was for important things only. He nodded at a house in front of us.

"This is where we will be staying for the duration of our mission Rukia," he said. The house was part of an older street in town. It was slightly more traditional than most houses these days, but only just. It was wooden not stone, the yard was a mess however, and ivy had started growing over the house. Nii-sama scoffed slightly at the appearance but shook his head. "Rukia, do you still have the key?"

"Oh, uh, hai Nii-sama, I do somewhere," I started checking my pockets and momentarily had a panic attack when I couldn't find it. Byakuya sighed at his sister and walked over to her and lifted the thin cord she was wearing around her neck. "Oh," I blushed and untied the cord and handed it over quickly. He unlocked the door and we stepped into our new home.

It was small, definitely not like the Kuchiki Mansion back in Soul Society, but I could adjust. I wasn't so sure about Nii-sama though, he had a grimace on his face, but then again, when did he not? There were two bedrooms and each had its own bathroom so we wouldn't have to share. The kitchen was tiny, but all the appliances were new. Out the back door, was a sorry excuse for a garden. Nii-sama looked out at it and sighed again.

"I'll have to hire someone to fix the garden up," he commented. "Might as well have something pretty to look at while we're stuck here, ne?" He looked at me and startled, I nodded vigorously.

The first two weeks that we were in Karakura, were spent rotating shifts and patrols. Apparently the guys at Central weren't kidding when they told us that the hollow activity in this town was off the charts. At night, the only time we had off, due to another pair of Soul Reapers that took over at 6 PM. My shift was from 6AM to noon and then Nii-sama took over until the other two; both members of Squad 11 took over from him. In the free time we had, we familiarized ourselves with the ways of speech and dress that the times had.

Generally however we kept to ourselves; we used the gigais we were given to a minimum. Only when the landlord came to ask if we needed help with anything, or a neighbor came to say hi. Nii-sama always left me to deal with them, saying he got a headache when dealing with petty human things. There were a few people that we had regular contact with, usually a messenger from Soul Society came around every day around noon to give us an update, and we stayed in contact with a local shop keeper named Kisuke Urahara. My Nii-sama was very adamant about not going if we needed something from him.

It turns out that Urahara used to be a captain but was kicked out for some disclosed reason. He dealt in common items used and needed for Soul Reapers however, and it kept trips back to the Soul Society to a minimum as well.

Because the garden was still deemed unfit to be in, Nii-sama and I took walks through the local park, in which all of the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom. We had heard of a local fireworks festival, celebrating the end of summer or something like that and we decided to go watch. The banks of the river were full of people. Adults by themselves, teens with their friends, families with children running every which way, and then us. We were still in our Soul Reaper forms; we hadn't wanted to take any chances. Besides, with such a gathering of humans, hollows would be drawn most certainly.

We could tell if a human had high spiritual pressure if not, because every now and then someone would look up and spot us. Normally they'd tap whoever was with them and point but we would already be gone to our next spot by the time they turned to look at what their friend was pointing at. When a hollow was finally enticed out by the humans, it targeted a small family situated away from everyone else. A boy who looked to be about seventeen grabbed his sister's arms and shoved them towards the bigger group of people. Nii-sama tapped my shoulder and nodded at the hollow.

So I was to take this one, no problem. Low level hollows like this one were easy to take out. I flash stepped in front of the boy, who had a deer in the headlights look and slashed my zanpakuto across the hollows face. It was already disappearing by the time I sheathed my sword.

"What was that thing?" The boy asked me. I merely looked at him and looked away. His family had already moved away, his father with both of the girls. Every now and then he'd look this way. I wondered if he could see me. Nii-sama walked over and nodded at me.

"Good work Rukia," he said.

"Arigato Nii-sama," I said bowing slightly.

"Um, hello, I asked you a question, what the hell was that thing?" The boy got slightly red in the face. I was honestly shocked that he would take that tone with me. After all, I had just saved his life.

"That is none of your business human boy," Nii-sama said giving him a look over. He wasn't that spectacular, to be honest, he was kind of gangly and his hair. Oh the horror that was his hair. It was a god awful color of orange. Even so, I decided my Nii-sama was being rude.

"It's a hollow, I suggest you stay away from them or call for one of us if you see one again," I said quietly. My nii-sama gave me a hard look but shook his head.

"A hollow…" the boy scratched his chin and shrugged. "Would you like to stay and watch the fireworks with me?" he asked. I opened my mouth to say… well I don't know what I was going to say, Nii-sama beat me to it.

"Come Rukia, we should get some rest before tomorrow," Byakuya said moving away, leaving no room for debate. I didn't hesitate to follow I looked back once at the boy. He was watching us, when I turned around; he lifted a hand and waved slightly.

"Nii-sama, that was rude," I said once we got back to our tiny house.

"We are not here for you to socialize with human boys Rukia; we are here to rid the town of hollows. Do not let that boy distract you from the mission," with that, Byakuya walked into his room and shut the door. I sighed and walked to my own room down the hall and got ready for bed. Tomorrow would be a new set of challenges. In order to look as if we fit in, I had to start High School. I can't say I was exactly looking forward to it. As well as that, Nii-sama was having to take a longer shift until I got out of school at 3.

I walked over to the window and looked out at the full moon, and the last few fireworks in the distance. I guess life; well human life anyway, was like a firework. Beauty for only a few fleeting moments, then it was gone. I crawled into bed, and my last thought was of the boy with orange hair.

_***S* **_

**So, my first chapter for my first IchiRuki story. I'm actually a little proud of this. Tehee! Though I think I might end up being slow with updating, but that's nothing but normal with me ne? **

_**Translations:**_

_**Senkaimon: The gate between worlds**_

_**Seireitei: The residence of the Gotei 13**_

_**Nii-sama: Brother**_

_**Hai: Yes**_

_**Ne: Right **_


End file.
